Good Sunday morning,
I'm updating http://www.kc9bqa.com this weekend. The slant is toward
getting more contesting activity. The posts dated July 11 and 12 on my
website provide all the info a total novice needs to start enjoying
weak-signal V/UHF work, and to feel comfortable trying a V/UHF contest.
I think the CQ WorldWide VHF Contest (1800utc Sat. June 18th until
2100utc Sun. June 19th) is probably the best time to introduce an ordinary
VHF'er to contesting. Only 2 bands to keep track of, and better yet, they're
the bands most any Joe Q. Ham has. Anyone with 6 and/or 2 meters can try a
VHF contest, next weekend. Yet so few do try it, and worse yet, so few
average hams even know what is that we do.
If you're like me (some years of V/UHF contesting experience), you can
probably think of anywhere from several dozen to a few hundred hams who
contest. Of course, 90-95% of that is on the SSB side, and that's where I'd
like to see everyone end up. However, it's not realistic to think that most
new V/UHF contesters will start with multiple bands and good yagis up high.
It's also true that for every dozen or so SSB op you know, there are
hundreds of FM-only hams using VHF. So to me, if you're going to get new
guys/gals on, you need to reach out to the FM-only side. Even if only 5 or
10% of those FM-only stations end up getting motivated, that's a potentially
large number of new weak-signal ops.
Over the past year in and near my SE WI QTH, I've managed to motivate a
few dozen new ones. Actually, there are new ones coming on board from the N
ILL side, too, so the word is definitely spreading. Some of the new ones are
already enthusiastic about the weak-signal side and that's a great feeling.
We're going to attract more new ops this weekend by promoting FM activity
periods in the July CQ WW VHF contest.
If you think something like this would help in your area, then get busy
promoting. So many "ordinary" hams just have no clue what it is that we
enjoy so much. Share your enthusiasm and raise some awareness. You should
see an improvement.
***The FM activity periods in/around Milwaukee/Chicago and adjacent
portions of MI and IN will be from 9-11pm on Sat. July 18th, and 6-8am on
Sun. July 19th. All times central.
We're encouraging everyone, regardless of experience, to tune around
52.525 on 6m FM. To especially tune around 146.550-146.580 on 2m FM. To use
their VFO's and spread out, if those primary freq's are too busy. Use
146.400-146.490 on 2, and if it's *really* busy, consider spreading out to
147.420-147.570 simplex. With good late-night and early-morning propagation,
it could get that busy.***
The July 2006 CQ WW VHF had outstanding prop across the Midwest and it
just kept building as darkness fell. I worked all kinds of new guys out
200-500 miles on SSB, and when "normal" people started going to sleep, I
found stations from Minneapolis, to Burlington, IA to Terre Haute, IN on
146.xx Simplex. Talking verticals, 50-100 watts, no super-stations. But
what fun!
You just read the short version -- the highlights. Hope it gets you
motivated to spread the word. For those who want more detailed info about
how to educate new contesters, it is up on my website. Again, that's at
http://www.kc9bqa.com. You are free to use what I post there to help
promote more activity in your area.
The posts dated July 11 and July 12 are a great place to get hams who
have no experience with weak-signal V/UHF or with no V/UHF contesting
experience up to speed. Reading and absorbing everything will take an hour
or so, but this isn't fast-food hamming. When I was a sponge back in
2002-2004, it took me weeks of scouring the internet to put it all together.
Maybe I just didn't find the right places, but I don't think it should have
to be that hard.
Now I need to organize a few links on the website, and try to put
everything in one easily-accesible place.
Thanks for your time, 73,
Todd KC9BQA EN63ao 40 N of Milwaukee
50 thru 2304
http://www.kc9bqa.com For Frequent VHF/UHF Updates
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